Jan 8, 2010

Paddler Spotlight -- Louise!!

Hometown?

La Palma, CA!

Birthday (no year just month and day)?

4/22 - Earth Day is my birthday hahaha

Favorite Food(s)?

Hm...Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong-ese, Italian-ese, diner-ese...pretty much anything actually. Though I am also very fond of anything with tomatoes, garlic, lemon/lime, and seafood in any combination, shape, or form hahhaha. And Russ' cooking. ~.^ Not picky at all.

How long have you been paddling and who got you into Space?

Oh man, how many years has it been? 13? Since 7th-8th grade. Cerritos Chinese school! Actually, it was a good friend of Russ and mine who we used to ball with every Sunday morning. One day, he stopped showing up because he was "boating" with our old chinese school buddies, so we went to check it out to see what the madness was all about. Been hooked ever since. As for Space Dragons - Steph.

Why do you paddle?

For sh*ts and giggles. No, seriously, great workout, great people, and it's also a pride thing - can't break tradition!

Being a shark at Lake Gregory, feeling the altitude while paddling and wondering why 200meters was hurting so bad hahaha. Winning the spontaneous guts and glory race towards the end and going under the ginourmous sprinklers on the hillside (which, come to think of it, probably wasn't the best kind of water to be drenched in hahaha.)

How do you prepare yourself for a Race?

Sleep! Make sure all my equipment/shirts/misc paraphernalia is packed and ready to go as soon as I get up. Chat with Russ to get the adrenaline out.

Any hobbies, activities, interests outside of paddling?

When I'm not working or paddling, you can normally find me glued to my comp, DS Lite, or PS2 (currently addicted to Scribblenauts!) haha. I also have a thing for karaoke and Korean, Chinese, Japanese dramas/wu-sha series (go Wang Fei Hong!) And traveling...I try to hit up Asia or Europe at least once a year if possible if only to eat hahaha ;]

Any advice for new Paddlers?

Try and focus on one thing at a time. It can be quite overwhelming in the beginning because there's so much to keep thinking about. And come to practices as much as possible - you'll be surprised how much you improve just by showing up a couple times a week haha.

Paddling-wise, any particular goals for yourself or the team?

Get stronger, up my endurance, learn/polish the new technique. Would love to kick some ass at the SF tourney this coming season ~.^

If you could change one thing about the Team, what would it be?

Hm...not sure actually.

Favorite part about being a Space Dragon?

The balance between laughter and the drive to keep on doing better. It's actually the focus - when we get down to business - that I really like. Sure we have fun, but we really care about how we paddle, how everyone's doing, how we can do better and aren't afraid to be serious in middle of the laughter if we need to be. And vice versa - cracking a joke when it gets super intense. It's remember those feeling that gets me pumped up to come back to paddle year after year.

IF you have a single brother or sister. What Space Dragon would you consider hooking them up with?

Ahahaha...Since I'm still not 100% sure on who's single and who's not, how about I use this space to introduce the merits of my lovely and conveniently single brutha to you alls? Russell Shieh - 6'0". Can cook, do the dishes, do laundry, clean the house, take things down for you from high places, carry your grocery/shopping bags, chauffeur you around, and dress decently well. He enjoys the fine arts (including theater), fine dining, and fine women (oh wait, what?) but will be faithful due to his excellent set of morals. He has good guitar, cello, mandarin, taiwanese, and english skills as well as good hygiene (very important). Has been trained to put down toilet seats and plays well with small children and animals. Bonus - also comes with a f*cking awesome sister who'd make a great sister-in-law. So...any takers? ;]

Most interesting character you've met through the team?

There's so many! Em, Wade, Galen, Brian, Joe, Janet, Devant....how long does it take to do your hair every morning?!

If you were to trade a single Space Dragon teammate for an RFX (Ripple FX) paddler, who would it be?

I'd trade Russ for... haha just kidding. Truth is, I'm actually not that familiar with the RFX paddlers yet, so it's hard to say. Hopefully that'll change as the year goes on!

If you were to be stranded on an island with any 3 SD paddlers, who would you choose to get-by and pass the time with?

Hm... Rod - to help build a raft to get outta there and train us to be stronger, Russ - to cook, and uh....Steph to talk to and keep sane (sorry Steph, one more person and Rip'd have made the cut). Somehow I feel like our probability for surviving is low. Ask me again when Bear Grylls joins Space Dragons. ;]

First thing to come to mind when you hear the word(s):

"Pounce" : Cat

"Voluptuous" : Velociraptor (I dunno why I always think of that when I see this word)

"Predator" :Hawk

"Prey" : Rabbit

"Space Dragons" : Blue

Any interesting facts about yourself - or secrets that you want to divulge?

Er...I studied abroad in Japan for a year back in college and ended up picked up the habit of bowing slightly to people when I say hi. And I still sometimes answer with "hai" on accident when someone calls my name (but it normally ends up sounding like I said "hi" so that's ok hahaha)